The National Museum of the Philippines is located in Metro Manila and is the home to many famous Philippine artworks. Luckily, even though we arrived about an hour before closing, were able to secure an awesome tour guide! She was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of interesting and unexpected act facts with us. It was amazing to see some of the actual artworks that I’ve heard or learned about in my classes at UHM. Shown below are two of the pieces that I've learned about in my Philippine Language and Culture classes: “Spoliarium” by Juan Luna (left). and “Mother’s Revenge” by Jose Rizal (right). Honestly, this tour was full of spooky surprises. First one being that one of country’s most praised artists, Juan Luna, committed murder. In 1982, he killed his wife and mother-in-law in a jealous rage. Our tour guide mentioned that some people refer to this as crime of passion. Which, honestly, is absurd to me because anger that results in murder shouldn't be considered as passionate, which in my opinion is a positive characteristic to have. Second, our tour guide told us about a cursed painting they have in the Museum. The piece is titled, "Mi Novia," which means my girlfriend, and is a portrait of a beautiful woman. At first I thought she was joking, but sadly her statements were confirmed with a quick Google search. Many people have reportedly “suffered great misfortunes” after having contact with the painting. Later I realized that the artist who created the aforementioned cursed painting was the same artist that murdered his wife and mother-in-law. Who is the artist, you may ask? Why, it is world-renowned artist, Juan Luna. The very same mind who created the masterpiece (Spoliarium) that helped put the Philippines on the map at the 1884 Madrid Exposition. Supposedly, his wife's soul latched onto the painting after she was murdered. I didn't take a photo of it mainly because I was too scared and paranoid after hearing that story. Fits of rage and art induced misfortunes aside, the tour was actually very educational and impressive. There was a lot to see, even though, we only got to see the first floor. I personally enjoy going to museums and love looking at art, so I plan to go back to see the rest of this amazing museum! |